Prism A Collection of ISC Short Stories
Workbook Answers of A Living God
Answer 1
1. (d) 2. (d) 3. (d) 4. (a) 5. (d) 6. (b) 7. (c) 8. (a)
9. (b) 10. (d) 11. (c) 12. (b) 13. (a) 14. (a)
Answer 2
1. The author mentions the tsunami of June 17, 1896 because he was in Japan at that time and the
legend of Hamaguchi Gohei must have resurfaced at the time of the calamity.
2. Hamaguchi was liked and respected in his village because he advised small farmers and guided
them to resolve their disputes as well as make profit when they sold their crops.
3. Hamaguchi first realised that the earthquake was an unusual one because the earth shook in a long
slow spongy motion as a result of immense seismic activity very far away.
4. Hamaguchi called out to his grandson instead of sending message to the villagers or priest because
he had no time, the monstrous ebb would return as a devastating tsunami wave.
5. Rice was the staple crop of Hamaguchi's village because his invested capital was in the form of
hundreds of rice stacks in the field.
6. Tada was astonished because his grandfather had set fire to their investment in the form of rice
stacks.
7. Tada was terrified because he thought his grandfather had gone mad and was wilfully destroying
them.
8. The growing multitude of villagers were in sorrowful wonder because their Choja's crops were
burning and he was not allowing them to put out the fire.
9. The Choja became almost as poor as the poorest of the villagers because he had set fire to his wealth
that was in the form of rice-stacks.
10. After the tsunami the old man wept because he was happy and he was tired as he was aged and
weak.
11. The villagers did not give gifts to their Choja as a token of thanks for saving their lives because gifts
could not suffice for the reverential feeling they had for him.
Workbook Answers of Advice to Youth
Answer 1
1. (c) 2. (b) 3. (a) 4. (a) 5. (b)
6. (b) 7. (c) 8. (b)
Answer 2
1. It is best to target the very young for instructions because at that age it takes deep root, is enduring and valuable.
2. One must obey one's parents because of the superstition that parents know better than one does.
3. In today's day and age always avoid violence because it is best left to the low and unrefined.
4. The lark is the best thing to wake up to because it can be trained to wake up late.
5. A student should be deeply involved in nurturing the 'art' of lying because it is the sure foundation for future eminence.
6. The Boston monument is mentioned in the essay because it represents a lie which will outlive the monument.
7. An awkward, feeble, lie should be avoided because it is more transient that the average truth.
8. Firearms handling requires knowledge and care because otherwise firearms could cause more damage than war.
9. Young should read good books because they are a great and reliable means of improvement.
10. Twain refers to a particular selection of books because they are the ones that call for critical thinking on behalf of readers.
11. Originality and individuality is absent in current society because current society demands strict conformation to certain norms.
12. Advice to Youth is a hidden call for young people to think critically and act independently because current society lacks originality and uniqueness.
13. Using a lark is the best way to get up in the morning because a lark, unlike an alarm, can be trained to allow a person to sleep in till late.
14. The author advises students to be careful about lying because once caught lying, one cannot regain, one's old status of being honest.
15. The author mentions the monument in Boston because a lie outlasts even a monument.
16. Mark Twain calls telling a lie an art because it needs lot of practice and experience.
17. Always obey your parents when they are present because they will make you do so otherwise.
18. If a person offends you hit him with a brick because the offender should realise he had offended you.
19. Young people must read religious and moral books because they are inestimable and unspeakable means of improvement.
Workbook Answers of The Paper Menagerie
Answer 1
1. (d) 2. (b) 3. (c) 4. (d) 5. (d) 6. (c) 7. (d) 8. (a) 9. (b) 10. (d)
11. (a) 12. (c) 13. (a) 15. (b) 14. (d) 16. (a)
Answer 2
1. Jack's father says he'll get his mother a cookbook because she would have to learn to cook American food instead of Chinese to please Jack.
2. Jack's mother stopped making paper animals when Jack was in high school because Jack was no longer interested in them.
3. Jack's mother refused to visit the doctor for her pain because she believed it was no big deal probably after what she had undergone.
4. Jack's mother wanted to speak to Jack alone because she knew she was dying and wanted to make amends in her relationship with her son.
5. Jack boxed his paper menagerie because he was embarrassed and he did not want any connection to his Chinese heritage.
6. Jack was a loved child because when he sobbed uncontrollably both his parents tried their best to soothe him.
7. Jack's mother read the letter to her dead parents at Qingming because she wanted to add Jack's comments and response.
Workbook Answers of The Great Automatic Grammatizator
Answer 1
1. (b) 2. (a) 3. (d) 4. (c) 5. (b)
6. (a) 7. (c) 8. (b) 9. (d) 10. (c)
11. (a) 12. (b) 13. (c) 14. (d) 15. (b) 16. (d)
17. (a) 18. (d) 19. (a) 20. (d) 21. (d)
Answer 2
1. Mr Bohlen appreciated Knipe because without his help it would not have been possible to build the
great automatic computing engine.
2. When Knipe went home for vacation he said that Mr Bohlen was right because the latter had rightly
understood that there was something on Knipe's mind which was bothering him.
3. When in his room, Knipe smiled in many, many months because he conceived the idea of building
a machine to produce literary works.
4. Knipe regarded his idea as delicious but impracticable because a machine, however ingenious could
not produce original thought.
5. Knipe would mutter a series of curses in which the word 'editor' was always present because
according to Knipe they were responsible for rejecting the stories which he sent to the publishers.
6. According to Mr Bohlen, Knipe's machine could be a commercial proposition because of the cost
involved in building such a machine.
7. Knipe saw no hope in the hand-made articles because they could not compete with mass-production
using the machines in terms of quantity and price.
8. Knipe believes that every writer uses at least one long, obscure word into his story because he
wanted the readers to think that writer was wise and clever.
9. Knipe thought that passion was the most important ingredient of a literary work because it acted like
a magical catalyst that could transform a dull novel into a great success, especially economically.
10. Knipe defined the creative urge in the writers as 'bunk' because he believed that most of the writers
were interested in money rather than anything else.
Workbook Answers of Thank You, Ma'am
Answer 1
1. (d) 2. (b) 3. (b) 4. (a) 5. (a)
6. (d) 7. (a) 8. (a) 9. (b) 10. (a)
11. (a) 12. (d) 13. (c) 14. (d) 15. (a)
Answer 2
1. Roger fell on his back because the purse was heavy and the weight of the purse and his own made him lose his balance.
2. Roger was unable to snatch the purse and run because he lost his balance and fell backwards.
3. Roger did not run away despite the open door because he did not want to be mistrusted anymore.
4. It can be inferred that Roger was a weak boy because he could be dragged by Mrs Jones to her house.
5. We know that the large woman could take care of herself because she kicked Roger in the seat of his blue jeans and caught him by his collar and shock him hard with ease.
6. There was a long pause after Roger washed his face because he was contemplating whether to run or stay.
7. The boy did not want to be mistrusted by the lady because she had shown her trust in him despite the conditions under which they met.
8. 'Let the water run until it gets warm' shows Mrs Jones' concern for the boy because washing his face in cold water would be harsh.
9. The boy 'dried it again' because he did not know what to do next.
10. The lady wants Roger to look 'presentable' because there is a symbolic relationship between personal appearance and morality - if Roger looked good he would feel like being good.
Rhapsody A Collection of ISC Poems
Workbook Answers of Abhisara: The Tryst
Answer 1
1. (d) 2. (a) 3. (b) 4. (c) 5. (b) 7. (d) 8. (a) 9. (b) 10. (b)
11. (a) 12. (d) 13. (b) 14. (a) 15. (b) 16. (a) 17. (c) 18. (b) 20. (b)
Answer 2
1. The dancing girl appeared to be rich because she was laden with jewels.
2. The ascetic did not accept the invitation of the dancing girl because he had sacrificed the material
world.
3. The dancing girl was proud because she was young and beautiful.
4. The streets were lonely on that April evening because the people had gone to the woods to the
festival of flowers.
5. The woman was driven away from the town because she was suffering from small-pox, a very
contagious disease.
6. The ascetic kept his promise because he visited the dancing girl when she needed his help.
7. The dancer had to lower her lamp because her foot touched a human-like creature and she had to
see what it was.
8. According to Vasavadatta, the dusty bed was not fit for the ascetic because he was young and
beautiful.
9. The ascetic has a face that was austerely beautiful because the face, being a window to a person's
soul showed that he is not attached to worldly pleasures.
10. The dancer called the ascetic merciful one because he was the only one who tended to her wounds.
11. The ascetic's eyes were forgiving because there was no hint of anger in them at being woken up from
deep sleep.
Workbook Answers of Why I Like the Hospital
Answer 1
1. (b) 2. (a) 3. (c) 4. (d) 5. (a) 6. (c) 7. (a) 8. (b) 9. (c) 10. (b)
11. (d) 12. (a)13. (b) 14. (b) 15. (a) 16. (a) 17. (c) 18. (b) 19. (a) 20. (c)
21. (d)
Answer 2
1. The speaker feels that it is all right to be in a bad mood in the hospital because everybody has the
same feelings of pathos and there is nobody to judge others.
2. The speaker was slouching along in the garage because he was sick and therefore, could not walk
straight.
3. When the speaker enters the lift he feels there were other customers also because he was not the
only one suffering from disease and there were many others like him.
4. The speaker in the poem, Why I Like the Hospital, calls the other patients in the lift as customers
because like him they are the victims of the present day healthcare system in the hospital that
regards patients as customers for making profits.
5. The speaker in the poem likes to visit the hospital because it makes him feel that he is not alone
seeing other patients suffering from fatal diseases going through the same emotions.
6. The mother in the hospital was in a dilemma because she did not know how to reveal to her children
that she was suffering from a fatal disease, i.e., cancer.
7. The girl looking downward at her shunt was bald because of the effect of chemotheraphy after
mastectomy.
8. The speaker in the poem does not like the fresh flowers thrown away in the dustbins because if
shows the utter carelessness and apathy for the patients in the hospital.
9. The speaker in the poem likes the way patients in the hospital are writing their score in a notebook
because they are contemplating about the good and bad deeds committed by them in their life.
10. The speaker in the poem says that the hospital induces forced intimacy of the self with the self'
because it allows them time to introspect about themselves and their lives.
11. The terminally ill patient in the hospital sobs without shame because a hospital is a place that
allows people to give vent to their feelings openly without being judged as weak.
12. The terminally ill patient was holding his own hand in sympathy because there was nobody to
console him or provide an affectionate touch or soothing words to help him unburden and process
his pain and suffering.
Workbook Answers of Sonnet 116
Answer 1
1. (b) 2. (a) 3. (c) 4. (a) 5. (d) 6. (d) 7. (b) 8. (a) 9. (b) 10. (c)
11. (a)12. (d) 13. (a) 14. (c) 15. (b) 16. (a) 17. (a) 18. (c) 19. (d) 20. (b)
Answer 2
1. The peaker does not want to accept any obstacles to the marriage of true minds' because they are
truly devoted and faithful to each other and can overcome any obstacle.
2. The speaker says that love is not love which alters when it alteration finds because true love does
not change when it finds changes in the loved one or under changing circumstances.
3. The speaker defines love as an ever-fixed mark because like a sea-mark or a lighhouse that remains
fixed and never alters and continues to guide the sailors during the storm, true love remains
unaltered and guides the beloved to wade safely through the difficult times.
4. The speaker compares true love to a star that sailors use to navigate because true love provides
security against storm and turmoil and sets a standard for all other lovers.
5. The speaker says that the value of true love is inestimable because true love is unassessable by
normal instruments in space and time.
6. The speaker feels that true love operates in the realm of eternity because true love defies every thing
in its powers, including death.
7. The speaker says that 'Love's not Time's fool' because true love is not fooled by time as it does not
depend on age and physical beauty that fades away with time and it lasts till the end of one's life.
8. Time' has been one's life has been personified as a Grim Reaper because a Grim Reaper that
represents death and carries a scythe, here mows down rosy lips and cheeks, i.e., beauty, with its
sickle. However, it does not lead to the end of true love.
Workbook Answers of Death of a naturalist
Answer 1
9. (b) 19. (d)
10. (c)
20. (a)
1. (c)
11. (c)
21. (c)
2. (a)
12. (c)
22. (b)
3. (c)
13. (a)
23. (c)
4. (a)
14. (c)
24. (b)
5. (d)
15. (b)
25. (c)
6. (b)
16. (c)
26. (c)
7. (a)
17. (b)
27. (c)
8. (c)
18. (a)
28. (a)
Answer 2
1. The 'flax-dam' festered in the heart of the townland because flax needed to complete the process of
rotting to be converted into linen.
2. The flax is pressed down by putting huge turfs of grass so that the flax can remain inside the water
and rot easily.
3. The speaker has used the phrase 'sweltered in the punishing sun' because he wanted to convey that
despite the atmosphere of uncomfortable heat near the flax-dam he is not repulsed by the heat or
the foul smell.
4. The speaker has used the phrase 'Bubbles gargled delicately' because he wanted to convey two
opposite connotations, one of soft innocent and playful image of a child blowing bubbles and the
second, a harsh sound produced by 'gargling', hinting at suffocation or choking.
5. The speaker describes the warm thick slobber of frogspawn as 'best of all' because it allows him to
circumspect the flax-dam and collect the frogspawn in jars of jam and satisfy his urge of being a
naturalist.
6. The speaker describes how the fattening dots burst into swimming tadpoles because he wanted to
convey the growth of tadpoles, symbolic of the boy's natural growth his understanding of the
world around him.
7. Miss Walls describes the life-cycle of a frog and the role of played by the daddy and mammy frogs
because through Miss Walls, the speaker is hinting at how the boy would understand Miss Walls'
lesson and that the parents frogs were there to avenge his act of stealing their frogspawn.
8. The speaker says that the angry frogs had invaded the flax-dam because he wants to convey the
presence of a large number of frogs, who want to take revenge on the speaker like an army taking
action against him.
9. The speaker ducked through the hedges because he no longer feels safe and secure in the environment
invaded by the frogs; the environment he earlier loved so much.
10. In the last line of the poem, the speaker imagines being sucked into the frogspawn rather than being
attacked by the angry frogs because he does not flee the flax-dam due to a surface-level fear but due
to an internal shift, that is, the shift being the death of the naturalist within him.
Workbook Answers of Strange Meeting
Answers 1
1. (a) 2. (b) 3. (c) 4. (a) 5. (b) 6. (b)
7. (d) 8. (d) 9. (a) 10. (b) 11. (a) 12. (a)13. (d) 14. (a) 15. (d)
Answer 2
1. The tunnel was ancient because it was dug up as a result of ancient titanic wars.
2. The vision's face was marked because of the thousands fears at the battlefield.
3. There was no cause to mourn in Hell because there was neither the blood nor the noise of the
battlefield.
4. Both the soldiers were without hope because their lives had been cut short by the War.
5. The enemy went hunting wild because he was after the beauty that outran time — the beauty of
truth.
6. The soldier refers to the 'other' as 'strange friend' because he is an unfamiliar person so he is
strange and is in the soldier's territory so he must be a friend.
7. According to the enemy soldier men will become 'discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled' because
they would take his death as defeat and attempt to avenge his death by raging another war.
8. 'None will break ranks' because violence calls for conformity and patriotic fervour would be high and
any dissent would be squashed.
9. The world is said to be 'retreating' because the violence is leading it to a primitive state.
10. The world is turning into vain citadels' that are not walled because it is resorting to violence.
11. The truth' remains 'untold' because the soldier has taken it with him to his deathbed.
12. The enemy soldier could recognise the speaker because of the frown he had when he killed the
enemy soldier was the same he had when he encountered the latter in the tunnel.
13. The enemy soldier could not defend himself because his hands were cold and slow.
14. I am the enemy you killed, my friend'; the enemy is now a friend because both are dead and do not
have any affiliations or cause for enmity so they can be friends now.
